Cairngorms and Moor House UK LTER sites welcome international visitors

Two teams of visiting researchers received funding from the eLTER Transnational Access scheme to visit the UK during the Summer. They visited sites in the UK Environmental Change Network (UKECN).

A group from the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Israel, led by Elli Groner, visited the Cairngorms site in Scotland to investigate the impact of a reduction of snow days on above and below ground arthropod activity in this sub-alpine, mountainous area. They collected specimens from the soil surface via pitfall traps and from soil samples, and their sampling included areas with late-lying snow beds, as well as adjacent open slopes. They also made use of existing UKECN monitoring and research data.

A second team, from the Université de Lorraine in France, was led by Marie-Noëlle Pons. They also visited the Cairngorms site, before travelling south to Moor House, an upland site in northern England. They collected water samples as part of an assessment of the optical characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in streams and compared these with samples from streams under similar climate and land cover type (mixed forest, moors) in the Vosges Mountains of France.

The weather conditions were challenging at times, but overall, both visits were successful.

We are grateful to our visitors for choosing our sites as locations for their research, and to our hard-working site managers, Chris, Jan, and Bev, for looking after the scientists during their stays.

The eLTER Transnational Access scheme enables research access to over 40 sites long-term ecosystem research sites across Europe. 

Read more about the 4th eLTER TA&RA funding call which is open for application by 31 January 2024!